Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon (01/20/07)

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Posted in comedy | music | tour dates | video on January 20, 2007

Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon (01/20/07)

my bad. this third installment of Klaus' Comedy Canon was supposed to be up on Wednesday. Better late that never...

Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, & Leo Allen @ Rififi, NYC (CRED)

Since my last Comedy Canon, the NYC comedy scene has been bustling. Comix hosted 5 sold out shows featuring Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron, and Leo Allen, and Let's Have A Ball went down Saturday night at the UCB Theater.

And Sunday night was like a city-wide comedy Lollapalooza - Comix had Reggie Watts, and Rififi held its final installment of Here's The Thing which is moving to The Pit. This blockbuster show had the likes of Tom McCaffry, Slovin and Allen, Kurt and Kristen, Julie Klausner, and Val Myers. A little further downtown Pianos hosted Cavalcade which featured an incredible line-up including Marc Maron, Jessi Klein, Andy Blitz, Chelsea Peretti, and Tom McCaffrey.

Then on Monday, Patrick Borelli hosted The Grouch Show at Mo Pitkins - a show that featured Jon Benjamin & Jon Glaser, Dave Hill, Amelie Gillette from the Onion, and Matt Hall. Sometimes there is wayyy too much comedy happening in this fair city. Seriously.

A few upcoming shows are listed at the end of this post, but first the news...

Bonnie Prince Billy (CRED)

In the comments section of the last Comedy Canon someone asked whether musician Bonnie Prince Billy has been doing some stand-up. The short answer is, yes. The long answer is that, indeed, he did some stand up at Weeds in Chicago on December 19th 2006. The show was part of his record label Drag City's People Under the Stares comedy series. There is also a video of Bonnie Prince Billy on Neil Hamburger's internet show Poolside Chats with Neil Hamburger, and one of him in a skit from Wondershowzen with David Cross and Zach Galifianakis. Watch it!:

Speaking of musicians turning to comedy, the fading captain himself Robert Pollard has released the follow-up to his first post-GBV record / first comedy record Relaxation of the Asshole. Meet the King: Asshole 2 is Bob's second foray into comedy (read: stage banter). Most of the material has been culled from various recording from GBVs final tour. It is only available on vinyl and is limited to 1000 copies.

Fans of comedy duo Tim and Eric have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Taking a break from Tom Goes to the Mayor for a bit, they've been working on a new show called Tim and Eric: Awesome Show, Great Job. It premieres on Adult Swim on February 11, 2007 at 11:45pm. Tim and Eric claim the show is "a mostly live action/sketch/variety/insanity experience". There is a mega-creepy website with an equally creepy promo clip here. The clip features Bob Odenkirk, and what is easily the most bizarre montage I've ever seen. Check out another promo they just put on YouTube too.

Tim and Eric are also on the road!. Here are the dates:

Sun Feb 25 TT The Bear's Cambridge, MA tix
Mon Feb 26 Knitting Factory New York, NY tix
Tue Feb 27 Franklin Institute Philadelphia, PA
Wed Feb 28 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
Thu Mar 1 The Earl Atlanta, GA

They were also in a recent episode of Poolside Chats with Neil Hamburger. Oh, and there's a Tom Goes to the Mayer DVD set to be released in Spring of 2007!

Keep reading below for more!!!

Sadly, NYC comedy club Comix has confirmed on their website that, starting February 1st, there will be a 2 item minimum person at their shows. Any items purchased on their food & drink menu can be applied to the minimum per person rule - but still, I have to say, that really ain't all that bad. The cover charges are reasonable and sometimes have secret discount codes. Further, the items on their menu are still more reasonably priced than most of the other comedy clubs in NYC.

The Louis CK stand-up special Louis CK: Shameless premiered on HBO on January 13th. It will be re-airing several times throughout the next couple of months, and I highly suggest watching it. For specific air dates and times, check your local listings or this link.

I don't exactly remember what I was googling for, but I happened upon this little article entitled Eugene Mirman and David Cross Go Five Rounds with Entertainment Weekly's Laura Gilbert. In it, they "discuss indie rock". It's not going to change your life or anything, but I found it highly amusing. I do think someone should turn it into a short film though.

In more sad news, two highly anticipated DVD releases have been shut down indefinitely. Way back in May of 2005, Tinkle put on a charity show in Seattle that featured Todd Barry, Jon Benjamin and David Cross. NPR legend Sarah Vowell, SNL’s Fred Armisen and comedians Eugene Mirman, Heather Lawless, AD Miles, Jon Glaser, Andy Blitz and Slovin & Allen also performed. There was even music by The Thermals and the New Pornographers. And it was all caught on film! And yet, SupPop has put the brakes on the project for good. What's more, the live material recorded for a Midnight Pajama Jam (the brainchild of Jon Benjamin and Jon Glaser) DVD release was apparently unusable and that DVD project has been shit canned for now as well.

The Apiary rounds up more news in The Sting, and even more in Things Go Around.

But that's all in the past. Here are some upcoming shows I highly recommend.....

Obsessed with Julie and Jackie: Mo Pitkins, Sunday 1/21/07, 7:00pm: Featuring Janeane Garofalo, John Mulaney, and Seth Rudetsky. Join comic geniuses Jackie Clarke and Julie Klausner as they host an evening based around the theme of obsession. For those who missed one of Janeane's 5 Comix shows, you can catch her for a mere $6.00 at the teeny tiny venue Mo Pitkins. I highly recommend buying tickets in advance here

Tearing The Veil Of Maya: Union Hall, Sunday 1/21/07 @ Union Hall, 8:00pm: comedy with Eugene Mirman + Michael Showalter + Patrick Borelli + Jessi Klein

Bro'In Out with Leo and Tony: UCB Theater, Monday 1/22/07, 8:00pm: In this live talk/variety show, host Leo Allen and 'sidekick' Tony Camin welcome real celebrity guests for a straight up talk show with booze, swearing, sketches and music. This particular installment features Kristen Schaal, Jonathan Ames, & The Flanks. Reservations are only $5.00 and are strongly suggested.

Threat + Talk Show with Bob Wiltfong: The Pit, Every Wednesday, 8:00pm: The Apiary has a really good Review of this show. I haven't seen it yet, but it is high on my list of things to see this week. You can get tickets here.

*** Do you recognize the future star featured in the below Atari 2600 PITFALL commercial? ***

video via CCInsider

c ya wednesday
-klaus

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Tags:

Posted on January 20, 2007 10:37 PM

Comments (3)

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Summa laude.

Summa laude who?

Summa Laude Thunder.

Posted by jerry | January 21, 2007 12:50 PM

I'm startin to think that comedy isn't funny anymore...

Posted by Anonymous | January 21, 2007 11:44 PM

I posted a longer response on The Apiary, but in general my gut feeling that Comix would eventually turn into a 2-drink minimum place has finally come true.

And I don't think excuses should be made about how lame their decision to do that is. Maybe they want to be "Caroline's Downtown", but crap. It's a very close walk to the UCB Theater to the north and tons of downtown venues to the south. Why blow $50 for one person to see comedians peform there when you can go to Mo Pitkin's and play lots less, have no minimum and get decent entertainment as well?

I'm all for other NYC venues settinig up shop of comedy, but hell. Their whole pricing structure is from another planet.

Posted by Jack | January 22, 2007 6:11 PM